Liberation Route Europe&Rureifel Tourismus

Rureifel Tourismus, partner of Liberation Route Europe

The Rureifel is a tourist destination close to the Eifel National Park and the Hürtgen Forest. This was where the first Allied troops met on the territory of the Reich in the autumn of 1944. The Rureifel is close to Aachen and easy to reach from Belgium and the Netherlands.

Every year, Rureifel Tourismus e.V. welcomes several hundred thousand tourists from western Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Most guests are lovers of nature and take advantage of the Eifel National Park, although in recent years offers combining nature with culture and history have grown in importance.

For decades, Americans have also visited the region, trying to better understand the events of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest (Battle for Schmidt). Typically, they are relatives of soldiers and members of the units who fought there. With special trails and qualified history guides, the Rureifel presents the battlefields, the stories of the residents, and the consequences of one of the deadliest battles on German soil.

Since 2011, the Rureifel has been a partner of Liberation Route Europe. This transnational cooperation helps to better represent the stories of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, offering more professional support and context for the events along the route from Südengland to Berlin.

In January 2015, over 6,000 visitors came to St. Mokka’s Church in Schmidt to attend the “Routes of Liberation” event that spanned three weeks, demonstrating the level of interest in the region.

Together with the Allied Museum in Berlin, Rureifel Tourismus considers itself the German partner of Liberation Route Europe, broaching the topic of the legacy of World War II with educational events and combining this with added value from tourism. With the Westwall, Hürtgen Forest, and the former “Ordensburg Vogelsang” national socialist estate, the region is a tourist destination situated between Aachen in Germany and Bastogne in Belgium.

“It is an honour to be part of the Liberation Route project. It presents the Rureifel with an opportunity to provide Hürtgen Forest with necessary historical context and to offer high quality tourism to the region’s visitors.”

Gotthard Kirch – Managing Director, Rureifel Tourismus e.V.

Discover the Hürtgen Forest Local Museum, with its dragon’s teeth, and the Westwall bunkers, with stories of fallen soldiers, the fate of the population, and the consequences that are still felt to this day.

Follow in the footsteps of world literature with Heinrich Böll, Ernest Hemingway, and Jerome D. Salinger on the Historical Literary Trail.

Combine a visit to the Hürtgen Forest with an excursion to the nearby Nazi estate Ordensburg Vogelsang.

LocationAn der Laag 4 52396 Heimbach

Liberation Route Europe is an ever expanding international commemoration route connecting the milestones of modern European history together. The route forms a link between the major regions during the advance of the Allies.